Unravelling Indonesia’s Failure to Implement the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA)

In 1975, Indonesia initiated oil and gas cooperation, leading to the establishment of the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE) in 1976. Then, the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA) was created to improve petroleum security and minimise the impact of emergencies experienced by ASEAN Member States (AMS). The First APSA was signed in 1986 but did not succeed, so ASCOPE was tasked with conducting a review. This led to the signing of the Second APSA on 1 March 2009, which was then ratified by all AMS in 2013. As the initiator of the ASCOPE establishment and considering the status of Indonesia as the highest oil producer among AMS, even with its status as net oil importer, this research examines why Indonesia failed to implement the Second APSA even after it had been ratified for ten years. The research will gather primary data from official APSA documents and related agreements, as well as interviews. The secondary data are from official reports, presentations and studies about energy trends and development. The authors argue that non-compliance is the factor affecting the stagnation of the Second APSA in Indonesia. Therefore, before the expiration of the Second APSA in March 2023, AMS agreed to extend it on an interim basis for the next two years.